Editor's Pick: Best Used Record Store - Antique Man

It’s hard to go into a used record store in search of a specific record. Used record shopping is more about discovery­—about finding something you didn’t know existed. After Gil Scott-Heron died last year, however, I went on a search for his records at several stores in Buffalo. Nobody had anything…except the Antique Man (234 Allen Street) in Allentown. I walked into the store and asked the owner if he had any records by the dearly departed Heron. He thought for a moment and said that he had remembered that something came in a few weeks ago. He showed me over to the jazz section and we searched but found nothing. I thanked him for his help and rooted through one more bin that was hiding under a shelf in the corner. And then it happened; discovery! There, in the unsorted bin, a copy of Heron’s 1981 album, Reflections. Mission accomplished, thanks to the Antique Man.

- cory perla